In response, Mayor Greg Fischer said he would continue pushing for state legislation that would allow cities like Louisville to adopt their own gun laws.

Speaking at a press event in Louisville Monday, Bevin said people who think “more government rules” can help put an end to shootings in Lexington and Louisville “are delusional,” according to a report from the Lexington Herald Leader.

Instead, Bevin said communities need to do “some serious soul searching” and “ask hard questions” to “heal [themselves] from within.” He declined to offer specific thoughts on what can be done to address gun violence in Kentucky’s largest cities but said it concerns him.

“This has to be addressed, it will be addressed, one way or the other,” he said. “This is something we will get to.”

Some Democratic lawmakers in Kentucky want the legislature to allow Lexington and Louisville to pass gun control ordinances to help curb gun violence in the cities. State law currently bans cities from passing any type of law regulating guns or gun accessories.

Democratic Sen. Reggie Thomas filed a bill earlier this month to allow Lexington and Louisville to pass their own gun laws after the accidental shooting of 15-year-old Trinity Gay, daughter of Olympic track star and Lexington native Tyson Gay.

“Something has to be done to stop this. And my bill gives communities like Louisville and Lexington the opportunity to address this rampant and senseless gun violence,” Thomas said in a video promoting the legislation.

Over the years, legislators have passed several laws banning local governments from passing any type of law regulating firearms sales or possession restrictions.

Fayette School officials will be instituting random metal detection at district high schools later this month. The decision comes following the investigation of students bringing guns to Tates Creek High School three times over the last 12 days.

Another student brought a BB gun to Bryan Station Middle School earlier this week.

Schools Superintendent Manny Caulk says family members are also urged to monitor what students are carrying with them when they leave for school. “Continue to encourage our families to check their student’s backpack to jackets, etc. to make sure they’re only bringing school appropriate materials to school.”

Caulk says the mobile metal detectors will be moved from one high school to another with some regularity. He says the multi-faceted approach involves students, families, staff, law enforcement, and the community. In each of the recent gun incidents, students indicated they brought weapons due to situations outside school.

Caulk says these incidents don’t appear to be related at all to attention given to the recent election. “In talking to the students, they had nothing to do with the election. The students, again their intention, at least in the majority of these cases, were not intending on going to school that day. They had more to do with what they were experiencing in the community.”

Donald Trump has been saying for months that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton wants to "abolish the Second Amendment," but now the Republican presidential nominee has gone even further.

At a rally in Wilmington, N.C., on Tuesday afternoon, Trump repeated that charge and then appeared to many observers to suggest taking up arms against his rival.

"Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish — the Second Amendment," Trump said. "If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know."

Kentucky’s political leaders responded to Thursday’s shootings in Dallas, Texas with grief, sympathy and a hint of the debates to come on gun control and police-involved violence.

On Friday, many vigils and moments of silence were observed across the state. Friday morning, police cruisers across Lexington pulled over and turned on their lights for one minute. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer held a vigil during which he said “supporting police and communities of color are not mutually exclusive.”

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican, called the attacks “unconscionable.”

“This is a cruel reminder that law enforcement officials selflessly put themselves in harm’s way day in and day out to keep our communities safe,” McConnell said. “We extend our hearts to the wounded, to the families and loved ones left behind, to the entire law enforcement community, and to a nation that has experienced much suffering and heartbreak over the course of a difficult week.”

Despite a flurry of attention after last month’s mass shooting in Orlando, Congress won’t likely pass gun control legislation before members leave for summer break, which starts next week and lasts until September.

On Thursday, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives indefinitely postponed a vote on the most likely contender — an NRA-supported bill that would have created a review of gun sales to those on the FBI terrorist watch list.

The bill is identical to legislation proposed by Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and Majority Whip; it creates a 72-hour window in which federal officials could deny purchases for those on the list.

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican from Garrison, said in an emailed statement that although House leadership could bring it back, he’s “glad the bill is dead.”

“This bill was unconstitutional, did not effectively counter terrorism, and rewarded Democrats for disrupting regular order in the House,” Massie said. “Also, the gun control language of the legislation had already failed in the Senate and was clearly dead on arrival in the House.”

While Republicans and Democrats differ wildly on firearms issues in Congress, opposition to gun control measures transcends political parties in Kentucky.

Like most mass-shootings in recent history, the Orlando rampage that killed 49 people at a gay nightclub provoked cries for limiting access to guns.

In Kentucky, State Rep.-elect Attica Scott called for a ban on assault weapons, registering firearms and allowing local governments to pass their own gun laws.

But House Speaker Greg Stumbo — the leader of the Democratically-led chamber that Scott is about to join — opposes the proposals.

“After 36 years in public office, I still have a 100 percent voting record in support of the Second Amendment and the NRA,” Stumbo said in a statement provided to Kentucky Public Radio. “As tragic as the events in Orlando were, I think these changes would be an over-reaction.”

Former Louisville Metro Councilwoman and state Representative-elect Attica Scott said Kentucky needs to do more to combat gun violence in the wake of the Orlando shootings at a gay nightclub that killed 49 people.

Scott called for having gun owners register their guns, increasing the $60 application fee for concealed carriers and banning assault weapons like the one used in the Orlando shooting.

“That is not something that somebody should be able to purchase and use here in the state of Kentucky,” Scott said. “It’s unnecessary. Absolutely unnecessary. We should have a ban on certain types of guns.”

Scott recently won the Democratic primary for the 41st House District in West Louisville, defeating 35-year incumbent Rep. Tom Riner. She has no challenger in the general election.

Scott previously served for three years on Louisville Metro Council. The city is currently experiencing a spike in gun violence, with shootings up about 40 percent compared to this time in 2015.

Over the past few days, top Republicans have given hints that they are considering some gun control measures in the wake of the mass-shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando. That’s a sea change for GOP leaders who have typically blocked any new restrictions on gun ownership, citing Second Amendment rights.

The chief proposals include gun-purchasing restrictions for those on the FBI terrorist watch list and expanding background checks for gun buyers.

On Tuesday, several media outlets quoted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying he was “open to serious suggestions from the experts as to what we might be able to do to be helpful.”

And on Wednesday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tweeted: “I will be meeting with the NRA, who has endorsed me, about not allowing people on the terrorist watch list, or the no fly list, to buy guns.”

In the aftermath of the Orlando shooting — the deadliest in recent U.S. history, with 49 victims — calls for gun control have once again grown louder. In fact, they were shouted on the House floor on Monday. After Speaker Paul Ryan led a moment of silence, Democrats yelled, "Where's the bill?" at him, asking for new gun control measures.

Kentuckians with concealed carry permits could bring firearms into schools, college halls and government offices where they may currently be banned under a bill proposed recently in the state House.

Under the proposal, any Kentuckian with a valid concealed deadly weapons license or a temporary permit could bring a concealed gun onto public elementary and secondary school property. Licensees and permit-holders could also bring concealed weapons to public universities and colleges, state and locally controlled government buildings, and to meetings of the state’s legislative body.

Courtrooms and detention facilities would be exempt under the bill.

The legislation was proposed last month by Republican state House members Diane St. Onge of Lakeside Park, Kenny Imes of Murray, Richard Heath of Mayfield and Tim Moore of Elizabethtown.

“I feel very confident that Kentucky has a very good system of background checks," says Dunnegan. "The NCIC check is a sufficient method, in my opinion, of making sure that those who shouldn’t have guns, don’t have guns.”

"I do believe the push to regulate guns is not the solution," he says. "I know the general public and the citizens here in the U.S. are upset and concerned. However, stricter regulations on law-abiding citizens wouldn't be the answer. It would only make it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to protect their homes, protect their land, and protect their families."

Dunnegan and his wife both previously taught classes for those who want to get concealed carry permits.

Meanwhile, a Bowling Green woman whose son survived a gunshot wound is praising President Obama’s speech on guns.

Saying that America faces a "gun violence epidemic," President Obama is taking "a series of common-sense executive actions" to reduce gun violence Tuesday, the White House says. First among the measures: tighter rules on background checks for gun buyers.

The Glasgow Police department reports that five guns have been stolen from vehicles in the past two weeks. Police department spokeswoman Julie Anne Williams says the guns have been taken from unlocked cars.

“Right now with everybody being focused on security, their family security, and having guns, people don’t just buy guns and leave at their home any more. They take them with them for protection wherever they are.”

The stolen guns include rifles and handguns.

"We don't know, when people steal these guns, do they wan them for quick Christmas cash or do they want to use them to harm the community in some way," said Williams. "So we have to keep that in mind. Yes, you want to protect your family, and as long as you're within the law, it's OK to do that. But at the same time, we've got to take measures that will protect everybody."

Williams says gun owners should take their firearms out of their cars at the end of the day and secure them in locked cabinets at night. She says children sometimes find guns and think they’re toys, which can lead to tragedy.

Some members of American Legion Riders, Post 9, in Owensboro, Kentucky have taken up a volunteer mission to guard the U.S. Armed Forces recruiting center in town, after five members of the military died as a result of shootings at two Chattanooga, Tenn. recruiting sites last week.

Phillip Evans of Owensboro was one of about a dozen American Legion volunteers who took turns at the local recruiting center Monday and Tuesday. Evans served in the Marines from 1990 to 1994.

“My active duty service ended, but I was never relieved of my duty to defend my brothers,” said Evans.

Evans said the current volunteer mission is clear.

"We're doing this to deter anyone that may seek to do harm to our active duty military," he said.

Evans said he has a concealed carry permit and brought two guns, an AR-15, which is a military style rifle, and an XDS-45, which is a pistol. He said the American Legion members talked with the local police and sheriff's departments, who asked them not to conceal the firearms, and the volunteers agreed.

Evans said the American Legion volunteers will continue to keep watch at the Owensboro recruiting center until they feel it’s no longer necessary.